Robbins Offers Terms for County Water Deal
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Robbins officials have agreed to lease the town’s reservoir to Moore County along with a number of other conditions as part of the county’s search for a long-term water source.
The town Board of Commissioners Thursday night asked attorney Doug Gill to create a proposal for the county.
This is the second proposal Robbins has sent the county since its initial offer. Mayor Lonnie English said it is time to move forward one way or the other.
“We have been talking about it for five years,” English said. “Are we going to sit here and talk about it for five more years? It is town water per se because it is on our land.”
The proposal would include several conditions:
Robbins leases its reservoir, as is, to the County for 40 years.
The county renovates and maintains the reservoir.
The county pays Robbins a set price for each 10,000 gallons that the county withdraws or permits to be withdrawn from the reservoir.
The county provides transmission facilities that permit the transfer of treated county water into the Robbins water system.
Upon request by Robbins, the county provides to Robbins up to 150,000 gallons per day of treated water at no cost and additional water up to 400,000 gallons per day at cost of production.
The county does not provide water to any entity for use in fracking in the area where an aquifer from which Robbins draws water is located.
Robbins maintains control of any and all permits.
Robbins has an option to purchase the county treatment plant and system.
Gill stressed that nothing in the list would be a binding offer to the county other than that Robbins is willing to lease its reservoir. A number of items were altered during the meeting at suggestions from commissioners.
Kevin Stewart proposed an amendment that added the 150,000 gallons per day condition. An earlier form had Robbins paying “a rate no greater than the lowest bulk rate” the county would charge any customer. The rate was changed by his amendment to “cost of production” as Moore County Commissioner Nick Picerno suggested during last month’s informational joint meeting of both boards.
Gill will work up a final version of these talking points and submit it to Interim Town Manager Jeff Sheffield for review before Sheffield sends it to the county board.
Stewart said he offered his proposed amendments because Robbins needs to maintain control of the town’s assets.
“The only asset that is being leased is the reservoir,” Gill said.
The reservoir has one key value to any county water system plan. It is in the Cape Fear basin fed by the Deep River.
“If they can work with us, they don’t have to cross the interbasin line,” Commis-sioner Joey Boswell said. “To do that would cost them millions. If they work with us they don’t. If they want it bad enough, they will pay for it.”
“Joey is right,” Commissioner Rocky Davis said. “That is what they are trying to do: keep it in the Cape Fear.”
State regulations limit how much water can be transferred from one river basin to another. Much of the southern end of Moore County is in a different basin.
Earlier in the meeting, the board agreed on terms of offers to obtain options on three test well sites. Two are on Standard Mineral Co. property and one is on Moore County school board land. Five test wells are to be drilled to see whether sufficient quantities of good water would be available from production wells. Two would be on land already owned by the town.
The board also approved accepting U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding for the new Robbins Fire Station Project, and papers were signed.
The loan amount is $257,200 repayable over a period not exceeding 40 years. That loan provides town portions of the total cost of $1,579,800 — the rest being forgivable under terms of the Rural Development grant.
Robbins has never had its own fire station. The new site is across the railroad tracks from town hall behind buildings on Middleton Street. Construction is expected to begin in late summer.
The board called a worksession meeting of the board for May 21 at 6:30 p.m. in Town Hall.
Contact John Chappell at (910) 783-5841 or jfchappell@gmail.com.
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Comments
Bflat 1 year ago
"•The county does not provide water to any entity for use in fracking in the area where an aquifer from which Robbins draws water is located."
When the aquifer is irreversibly polluted from fracking in the area, that stipulation will not be worth the ink that was sprayed on the paper.
tarheelborn 1 year ago
Well WELL, and I don't mean WATER WELLS Either! So now we know just a small portion of what has been at the Root of all these last (5) years of arguing between the Town of Robbins and Moore County.
*""The county does not provide water to any entity for use in fracking in the area where an aquifer from which Robbins draws water is located**"".***
Moore County wants to continue stripping the poor, uneducated and financially challenged citizens of the town, (not to mention the Well Educated people in Robbins and the WHOLE COUNTY)! One other good example is, whomever was elected to the town board and in control when the chicken factory came, should have put into ANY AGREEMENT, the factory should repay the money which this poor town has been saddled with all these years! (WHAT ABOUT THE MILLION DOLLAR + LOAN WHICH ROBBINS IS STILL SADDLED WITH? Is the County going to assume that debt? As this fiasco keeps unfolding, we are certain to continue seeing "the devil in the details".
tarheelborn 1 year ago
@ Bflat. I Agree.....
tarheelborn 1 year ago
I think you and I Both, are ALL OVER THIS! You posted just as I was typing and quoting the exact same portion of this story....
tarheelborn 1 year ago
There is ALWAYS a Hidden Agenda, when it comes to ELECTED Officials! I think what everyone needs to REMEMBER is, ""WHICH"" County Commissioners and their families OWN LAND in this region of Moore County??? I seem to remember on a couple occasions two commissioners recusing themselves on some KEY Water or Pipeline VOTES, when it came to this (Smoke Screen) MEGA INDUSTRIALIZED PARK, Up in that part of Moore County. If memory serves me Correct THE WATER CZAR, CADDELL, was one of these elected SMARTER THAN WE ARE people.... SMOKE SCREEN PEOPLE! They are the Very Best and Cunning when it comes to INFORMATION. Ever heard that ""KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION are KING""??? All they want is to see WATER up in that REGION of the County, at THE VOTERS EXPENSE, just so THEY can Capitalize off their elected positions! SAME OLE GAMES!
MOORE COUNTY CITIZENS, GET SMART ! ! !
OneNativfe 1 year ago
Terrible......
SH59 1 year ago
Thank you Robbins for having the foresight to protect us from the poisons used in the Fracking process.
temperanceprudence 1 year ago
The Robbins Commissioners are to be commended for working to develop a solid solution. One point though - I thought most of the County Utility department's water demand ( Pinehurst/ 7Lakes) was located in the Lumber basin, not the Cape Fear basin. Likewise, the disposal discharge, Addor plant, is also located in the Lumber basin, so how does this " save millions by avoiding the IBT"???? Seems like this is the same for Pinehurst and part of 7 Lakes as is the current situation of drawing water from Harnett County - transfering from Cape Fear to Lumber, and thus limited to whatever the IBT process will allow.
Still, a good proposal and hat's off to Robbins Commissioners and Mr. Gill for working to help their community - and potentially a good swath of NW MC.
ncsnafu1 1 year ago
"DEAD ON ARRIVAL" is certainly what all of the Moore County Commissioners are thinking after reading the eight conditions above. It was one thing for the Southern part of the county to subsidize Robbins via the original commissioner proposal; however, for Robbins to now suggest that it would sell water to Moore County and then expect the county to provide 150K GPD at no cost back to Robbins borders on insanity! It's one thing to provide a counter proposal in a negotiation; however, for the proposal to contain at least six deal breakers make's it a wast of everyones time to consider other than Attorney Gill who was paid to draft it. The sooner Robbins realizes that they are not the only game in town the quicker that Seven Lakes will get the much needed secondary supply it needs.
bubbasmith 1 year ago
@tarheelborn, Don't you think that not allowing Robbins water to used in fracking is a good idea? I agree with SH59
tarheelborn 1 year ago
@temperanceprudence. You are Exactly SPOT ON this..... These people are screaming about this MegaPark which is so badly needed in Northwest Moore County. I've been told, they even elected to place Pat Corso as the new head of Partners in Progress, so he could PUSH everything through as far as supposedly recruiting corporations to north moore county to build and create jobs Let me go on record to say, there are MANY OTHER Industrial Parks in the State, with much more potential than somewhere out in the middle of NO MAN'S LAND in Northwest Moore County! Everything has been a SMOKE SCREEN, by the County Commissioners! There can be no more than 2million gallons per day transferred from River Basin to River Basin! You are Correct... The Water Czar, Chairman of the Board, was hoping and praying a deal could be cut, before this came out! With the assistance of one Very Educated person in what is REALLY GOING ON, The Town of Robbins has been able to place these restrictions on the deal. If the County is really concerned about supplying drinking water to it's citizens, then there should be no problem with the proposal Robbins is sending the county! NOW, lets see what the county's reply will be... Thank you, PERSON which shall remain anonymous for allowing the town to figure out the web of deception the county has been weaving all these years!
tarheelborn 1 year ago
@bubbasmith. Would you be so kind as to explain your question a little better?
""@tarheelborn, Don't you think that not allowing Robbins water to used in fracking is a good idea? I agree with SH59""
Are you saying Robbins should have the right to sell water for fracking? How should I know? From what I have heard it takes MILLIONS of GALLONS of Water for Each Well, so I just cannot answer your question adequately... Sorry.
bubbasmith 1 year ago
@tarheelborn- I just wanted to you to clarify your first post "Well,WELL". You were too busy bashing the county commissioners to explain. I agree with Robbins, selling water for fracking should not be allowed. Wonder who this mystery person is in Robbins?